Brenna M. Woodley

Brenna Woodley is an experienced counselor, negotiator, and litigator who represents national and global employers in complex matters across a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, food production, energy, transportation, aerospace, finance, insurance and other professional services, retail, and health care.

Born and raised in a manufacturing town in northeastern Wisconsin, Brenna has a strong Midwestern work ethic and deep dedication to client service. She brings values-based, no-nonsense problem solving to her clients’ labor and employment matters. From high stakes collective bargaining and other negotiations to complex investigations and litigation, clients seek Brenna for their most sensitive workplace issues.

Outside of the courtroom, Brenna routinely serves as an outside investigator for C-suite and board-level workplace investigations of allegations of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and whistleblower reports, and represents companies in proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Labor, and Securities and Exchange Commission involving claims by employees.

She is an experienced negotiator, both in collective bargaining and in individual negotiations involving employment agreements, compensation issues, and separations of high-level employees. Brenna also provides day-to-day guidance to clients’ in-house human resources, labor relations, and legal teams, with a focus on practical solutions and risk management.

As a litigator, Brenna represents employers in the full spectrum of employment-related individual plaintiff and class litigation in federal and state courts, arbitrations, and administrative proceedings before government agencies, including cases involving federal and state discrimination and harassment laws, pay equity, trade secrets and restrictive covenant disputes, ERISA, and wage and hour issues. Brenna also has experience litigating unfair labor practice charges before the National Labor Relations Board.

In addition to her years of experience as an attorney, Brenna also has experience in the nonprofit sector. She has worked as a social worker developing programming for children, founded a charity, and has served in leadership roles on charitable boards for organizations providing services to children, helping organizations with strategic planning, fund development, and advocacy work. Her experience in these areas informs her work for clients and client relationships.